Students will compare and contrast the governments of Japan and the United States
Japan has been one of the United States' strong allies in the Far East. Yet she does not share the same type of government. Like the United Kingdom (England), she still has a monarch, and the real power lies in the hands of a prime minister. What binds these two countries (the United States and Japan)?
Students will learn about the government of Japan and how it is similar and different from our government. They will also learn how to organize information using a venn diagram graphic organizer.
United States of America | Japan |
Representative democracy | Parliamentary representative democratic monarchy |
President | Prime Minister, head of Diet |
2 Houses of Congress: Senate and House of Representatives elected by the people | 2 Houses of the Diet: House of Representatives and House of Councillors elected by the people |
No king or emperor | Emperor |
Written constitution | Written constitution |
3 branches of government: Executive, Legislative, Judicial | 3 branches of government: Executive, Legislative, Judicial |
Political parties | Political parties |
Bill of Rights first 10 amendments of the constitution | 31 articles listing rights and duties of the people in the constitution |
Citizens pay taxes to support government | Citizens pay taxes to support government |
Private (individual and private insurance) | Socialized medicine (provided through taxes by the government) |
Capitalistic economic system | Capitalistic economic system |